Self-styled “values voters” are religiously motivated social conservatives — usually evangelical Protestants or conservative Catholics – who cast their ballots for candidates sharing their moral outlook such as opposition to abortion rights and gay marriage.

These voters are a key base for the Republican Party and, while groups such as the FRC do not endorse specific candidates, conservative Republicans tend to be the main beneficiaries of their activism.

Distribution of voters’ guides, detailing the positions of candidates on key issues such as stem cell research, are a core activity for such groups.

The FRC’s presidential voting guide, issued late on Thursday, says it has “drilled down on the issues important to the family.”

Among other things, it asks whether candidates “support Medicaid-funded abortions,” what form of stem cell research they would allow federal funding for, and whether they would support a constitutional amendment “to define and protect marriage as the union of one man and one woman.”

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I cover commodities in southerrn Africa, a region that I have returned to after spending over four years covering religion, politics and the Great Recession in America. I am a Canadian citizen and grew up in Nova Scotia.